Letter from Mogadishu: Somalia joins EAC to launch Customs Bond

Somalia president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud will join heads of state from the East African Community (EAC) for their 25th ordinary summit this Saturday, March 7 in the northern Tanzanian city of Arusha.

The theme for the meeting is “Deepening Integration for Improved Livelihoods of EAC Citizens,” and will review progress on regional programmes and set priorities aimed at boosting economic growth and living standards across the eight-member bloc.

Mohamud will be making his first appearance at the summit following the inclusion of Somalia in the regional bloc’s legislative assembly after the election of its nine representatives last year. The MPs could however not take up their positions immediately as their election was a subject of a suit filed before the East African court and thrown out last December.

During the Summit, the Heads of State are expected to launch the EAC Customs Bond; a single regional customs guarantee that replaces the current requirement for multiple national bonds along transit routes. Under the new arrangement, traders and clearing agents will secure one bond recognised across all EAC Partner States, instead of arranging separate guarantees in each country of transit,” read a statement on the EAC website.

The Bond links customs administrations, insurers and financial institutions under a unified regional framework, reducing compliance costs, cutting border delays, protecting government revenue, and facilitating faster and more secure movement of goods across the Community.

The summit will also see the unveiling of the bloc’s 7th EAC Development Strategy (2026/27–2030/31), outlining key actions to accelerate integration and socio-economic transformation over the next five years.

The Strategy builds on achievements and lessons from the previous development cycle and aligns with EAC Vision 2050, the African Union Agenda 2063, and the Sustainable Development Goals.

The EAC Secretary General Ms Veronica Nduva noted that the launch of the EAC Customs Bond and the 7th Development Strategy demonstrates the Community’s continued shift toward practical solutions that enhance regional competitiveness and economic resilience.

Also on the agenda is the consideration of the Report of the Council to the Summit for the period 30th November, 2024 – 31st December, 2025; Modality for Implementation of the Directive of the 24th Summit of EAC Heads of State on Sustainable Financing of the EAC Budget, based on 65% equal contribution and 35% assessed contribution formula; and the Status of integration of Partner States admitted into the Community between 2016 and 2024.

The Heads of State are also set to appoint a new EAC Secretary General; appoint Judges to the East African Court of Justice; renew appointments of Deputy Secretaries’ General; appoint Commissioners to the EAC Competition Authority; and assent to Bills Passed by the East African Legislative Assembly.

Somalia who nominated their nine legislators will be appointing a judge to the East African Court for the first time to sit in the First Instance Division of the East African Court of Justice.

According to the EAC Secretary General the gathering offers a platform for collective decision-making to strengthen co-operation and advance shared prosperity in the region.

The Summit of the EAC Heads of State remains the most important platform for guiding the Community’s integration agenda.

The meeting in Arusha provides an opportunity for the heads of state to take strategic decisions that strengthen cooperation, promote trade, and advance shared prosperity for the people of East Africa.

 These milestones reflect the bloc’s collective resolve to remove barriers to trade and to implement a forward-looking development framework that responds to emerging regional and global priorities.

The outcomes of the Summit are expected to reinforce policy alignment among Partner States and accelerate implementation of key regional programmes aimed at fostering inclusive growth and deeper economic integration.

Somalia was admitted as the eighth member of the EAC in March 2024 when the Horn of Africa nation presented her instruments of ratification of the Treaty of Accession with the bloc’s Secretary General.

President Mohamud will be attending the Summit at the time his country is preparing for elections in May but the roadmap seems to be paved with controversy with the opposition protesting his push for the country to go the universal suffrage way in this year’s elections for both parliamentary and presidential.

When he gets back to Mogadishu, Mohamud will be confronted with a high-takes meeting scheduled by the opposition group, Somali Future Council (SFC) for April 10, 2026 dubbed national salvation summit.

The meeting has been set up by SFC after the national consultative conference convened by the president has flunked twice with the mandate of both houses of parliament set to expire on April 14, 2026 and thus potentially creating a power vacuum as there is no consensus on how to proceed in electing the new legislators.

SFC is a coalition of opposition leaders that brings together Puntland and Jubaland presidents, former president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, Prime Ministers, Federal MPs, politicians and civil society leaders

The planned opposition meeting comes after 223 legislators approved the Provisional constitution which has been in place since 2012.

The discussions and amendments by joint sittings of both chambers of parliament was boycotted by opposition legislators mainly from Jubaland and Puntland who have questioned the process thus escalating political tensions between Mogadishu and regional leaders.

Aynaashe Yusuf Hussein, state minister for labor and social affairs, and Ismail Buraale, state minister for petroleum and minerals, both members of the House of the People representing Puntland constituencies, announced their resignations following parliamentary vote to adopt a revised constitution.